Dead End In Norvelt
By: Jack Gantos
Information
Published By: D&M
ISPN Number: 978-0-374-37993-3
Genere: Relistic fiction
Grades 6th-9th
Awards:
- John Newbery Medal
- My Scott O'Dell Award Challenge
- ALA Notable Children's Book
- ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults
Professional Review #1
KIRKUS REVIEW
An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named “Jack Gantos.”
The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment “would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly, as even though Jack’s feuding parents unite to ground him for the summer after several mishaps, he does get out. He mixes with the undertaker’s daughter, a band of Hell’s Angels out to exact fiery revenge for a member flattened in town by a truck and, especially, with arthritic neighbor Miss Volker, for whom he furnishes the “hired hands” that transcribe what becomes a series of impassioned obituaries for the local paper as elderly town residents suddenly begin passing on in rapid succession. Eventually the unusual body count draws the—justified, as it turns out—attention of the police. Ultimately, the obits and the many Landmark Books that Jack reads (this is 1962) in his hours of confinement all combine in his head to broaden his perspective about both history in general and the slow decline his own town is experiencing.
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)
Professional Review #2
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets.
But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his Utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder.
Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.
Professional Review #3
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder.
Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.
Personal Review
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Work Cited
"Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos | Macmillan." Macmillan. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
"DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos | Kirkus Reviews." Kirkus Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
"Dead End in Norvelt." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
"Jack Gantos Book List - FictionDB." Jack Gantos Book List - FictionDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
"Jack Gantos." TeachingBooks.net Meet-the-Author Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
"Jack Gantos's Biography | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
"Newbery Medal Winner Jack Gantos Plays Not My Job." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.